Homemade Bread Mix Recipe

Use this mix for loaves, rolls or even sweet rolls. (Makes six loaves)

16 cups best quality bread flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1 cup dry milk
1 tablespoon dough conditioner

Mix the ingredients together thoroughly.

To make basic bread:

For two loaves, use about two cups of mix. Add the contents from one seven gram yeast packet, four tablespoons melted and slightly cooled butter, and enough water to make a soft dough, about two cups. Knead, form, and bake as for other bread. (Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until the bread tests done.)

Variations:

Add fruit, nuts, or spices as desired. For a whole grain bread, substitute whole wheat flour for up to half of the white flour.

For dinner rolls, double the amount of melted butter and increase the sugar by two tablespoons (for a two loaf equivalent batch).

You can use this mix to make sweet rolls. Mix as you would for dinner rolls but increase the sugar from two tablespoons to four.

Homemade Cornbread Mix

6 cups all-purpose flour
6 cups cornmeal
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups dry milk
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1/4 cup baking powder

Mix all ingredients thoroughly together.

To make cornbread:

For 2 1/2 cups of mix, stir together 2 beaten eggs, one cup water, and 1/4 cup melted butter in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry mix and stir until moistened. Do not over mix; batter will be lumpy. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cornbread is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Directions for Making Buttermilk or Sour Cream Pancake Mixes

Choose to make either a small, medium, or large mix. The ratio of ingredients is the same.

Homemade Buttermilk Pancake Mix
All Purpose Flour	cups	4	8	12
Sugar	cups	1/4	1/2	3/4
Dry Buttermilk Powder	cups	1/2	1	1 1/2
Baking Soda	tsp	2	4	6
Baking Powder	tsp	4	8	12
Salt	tsp	1	2	3
Makes Approx	lbs	1 2/3	3 1/3	5

Homemade Sour Cream Pancake Mix
All Purpose Flour	cups	4	8	12
Sugar	cups	1/3	2/3	1
Dry Sour Cream Powder	cups	2/3	1 1/4	2
Baking Soda	tsp	2	4	6
Baking Powder	tsp	4	8	12
Salt	tsp	1	2	3
Makes Approx	lbs	1 2/3	3 1/3	5

For easier measurement, remember that one tablespoon equals three teaspoons.

Combine all the ingredients and whisk together to distribute evenly. Store your pancake mixes in an air-tight container in a cool place and it should last a long time (We asked three processors the shelf life of buttermilk powder. Two said indefinitely and one said three years).

You can buy buttermilk powder in your grocery store. You can also buy a quality, long lasting buttermilk powder at the Prepared Pantry at a very good price. We have seen sour cream in some stores but your best bet may be to buy dry sour cream powder at a reasonable price at The Prepared Pantry.

Use the pancake mix as a base mix for by adding fruit, nuts, baking chips or more. Of course, you can make it plain for some special, extra rich pancakes. We guarantee that it is better than most store mixes.

To use your mix:

1. Measure the desired mix into a large bowl.
2. In a smaller bowl, whisk one egg for every one to 1 1/2 cups of mix.
3. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter or oil to the egg for every one cup of mix.
4. Add 2/3 cup water to the egg mixture for every one cup of mix. Add the liquid mixture to the mix and stir until just combined. The batter will probably be too dry so add more water to reach the desired consistency.

Variations

Here are 20 mixes that you can make. Of course, this is just a beginning; use your imagination to create more great gourmet pancakes.

1. Gourmet Chocolate Chip Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add mini milk chocolate chips). Serve with maple syrup, coconut cream syrup, or vanilla cream syrup.

2. Gourmet Cinna mon Chip Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add mini cinnamon chips). Serve with maple syrup, cinnamon cream syrup, or cinnamon apple syrup.

3. Gourmet Peanut Butter Chip Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add mini peanut butter chips). Serve with maple syrup or maple cream syrup.

4. Gourmet Walnut and Date Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add chopped walnuts and dates). Serve with maple syrup, cinnamon cream syrup, or maple cream syrup.

5. Gourmet Apple Cinnamon Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add grated fresh apples or Fuji dry apples plus cinnamon). Serve with maple syrup, cinnamon apple syrup, or maple cream syrup.

6. Gourmet Baked Apple Pancakes (Add grated fresh apples or Fuji dry apples plus maple flavoring). Serve with maple syrup, cinnamon apple syrup, or maple cream syrup.

7. Gourmet Cranberry Nut Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add chopped walnuts and dry cranberries). Serve with maple syrup, cinnamon apple syrup, or coconut cream syrup.

8. Gourmet Caramel Pear Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add diced dry pears plus a touch of nutmeg and a little cinnamon). Serve with Cinnamon Cream or Vanilla Cream syrup or a sprinkle of brown sugar.

9. Gourmet Blueberry Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add blueberry baking bits plus a touch of lemon and nutmeg). Serve with blueberry syrup or cinnamon cream syrup.

10. Gourmet Fresh Peach and Pecan Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add chopped fresh peaches and chopped pecans plus a touch of lemon and nutmeg). Serve with Orchard Peach or Vanilla Cream Syrup.

1. Gourmet Raspberry Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add raspberry baking chips plus a touch of lemon). Serve with raspberry syrup.

2. Gourmet Banana Pecan Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add a mashed banana and a little banana flavoring along with cinnamon and chopped pecans). Top with more sliced bananas. Serve with maple syrup or cinnamon cream syrup.

3. Gourmet Fresh Strawberry Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add fresh strawberries thinly sliced and a touch of lemon). It’s easier to slice your strawberries with a strawberry slicer. Serve with strawberry syrup or vanilla cream syrup.

4. Gourmet Tropical Coconut Banana Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add flaked coconut and mashed bananas). Serve with coconut cream syrup or vanilla cream syrup.

5. Gourmet Hawaiian Pineapple Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add granulated pineapple available at The Prepared Pantry). These are really good pancakes—we sell this in a mix. Serve with coconut cream syrup or vanilla cream syrup.

6. Gourmet Honey Buckwheat Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add a fourth cup buckwheat flour for every cup of flour. Sweeten the pancakes with dry honey instead of sugar). Both dry honey and buckwheat flour is available at the Prepared Pantry. Serve with any syrup.

7. Gourmet Pineapple Banana Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add granulated pineapple and mashed bananas). Serve with coconut cream syrup or vanilla cream syrup.

8. Gourmet Sourdough Pancakes (Add sourdough flavor available from The Prepared Pantry). Serve with any syrup.

9. Gourmet Pumpkin Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (For each1 ½ cups of flour, add 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and 3/4 cup canned or pureed pumpkin). Serve with vanilla cream or cinnamon cream syrup.

10. Gourmet Strawberry Banana Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add strawberry chips and mashed banana.). Serve with strawberry syrup or vanilla cream syrup.

How to Make Homemade Granola with Recipe

Homemade granola is much better. It's great for camping. Mix it with some M&M's and make great trail for that energetic Boy Scout. We like it as cereal with either hot or cold milk. And homemade granola is so much fresher—and we think better—than what you buy in the stores.

Let your imagination run wild when you make granola. The basic ingredients are cereal, oil, and a sweetener. Then add anything that you like to give it the character, taste, and nutrition that you want. Remember that kids' tastes are different than yours so make two batches—granola is easy to make.

How to Make Homemade Granola that Clumps

Everyone loves granola that clumps. But most homemade granola recipes don’t clump. Instead, you get a pile of loose rolled grains.

The secret to making your granola clump is oat flour. It’s the glue that holds individual grains together. You’ll find it in the following recipe and our homemade granola mix. You can buy oat flour here.

To learn more about ingredients, download “Ingredients and How They Work.”

Save time and buy our homemade granola mix. Everything is there for you to mix and bake. It makes great granola with wonderful crisp clumps. You add nuts, fruit, and flavors of your choice.

See our homemade granola mix >>

Mix and Match Homemade Granola Recipe

Note: The pictured granola was made with rolled oats, rolled wheat, sunflower seeds, brown sugar, vanilla and orange flavor, walnuts, and dried apples.

4 cups Mountain Harvest Whole Grain Rolled Cereal Blend, or other rolled cereal blend
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, or flax seeds
1/4 cup oat flour
1/2 cup honey, maple syrup, or a thick syrup made with 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2-3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla and/or other extract
3/4 cup raisins or other dried fruit (optional)
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together except for the dried fruit. Set the dried fruit aside.

2. In another bowl mix the sweetener, oil, and extract together.

3. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. The liquids will be absorbed and the granola will become darker and shinier.

4. Spread the granola in a shallow baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and stir the granola with a large spatula so that it does not over-brown on the bottom and edges. Add the optional fruit and nuts.

5. Return the granola to the oven and bake for an additional 12 minutes. Remove the granola from the oven and let it cool on the baking sheet. Letting the granola cool on the baking sheet will retain the clumps. Once the granola has cooled, scrape it into a large bowl.

6. Store your granola in a sealed container and use within ten days. May be stored for longer periods in the refrigerator or freezer.

Tips

Granola will become crispier and crunchier as it cools.
Because of the oil, granola will not stay fresh long. Store in an airtight container and use within two weeks. Freeze for longer storage.

Consider adding the following to your granola

Suggestions for Preparing Meals During a Short-Term Hard Times Event

To prepare a meal from scratch normally takes more time, more fuel, and as the food slowly cooks it emits a stronger aroma than when you simply open a can of food, heat it, and then immediately eat it.

Therefore, having canned foods that you simply heat and eat means you will need less cooking fuel and you will be keeping your cooking aromas to the absolute minimum. The absence of strong cooking aromas may help you to avoid attracting unnecessary attention to your family during a difficult short-term hard times event.

As a practical example,

1. Breakfast could be oatmeal, or breakfast bars, or fried Spam or fried ham, or you could skip breakfast and eat lunch at 10:00 AM and supper at 5:00 PM.

2. Lunch could be a complete meal from a can.

3. Supper could be more like a normal meal such as boiled rice or instant potatoes or beans or vegetables, plus a meat item from a can, such as salmon patties.

Remember, canned foods have been fully cooked and they only need to be heated and served.

However, whenever possible it is advisable to heat your food to at least 185 degrees Fahrenheit (85 degrees Celsius) to kill any potential harmful microorganisms that might be in the food.

It would also be a good idea to put a lid on the cook pot or skillet when you are heating the food. The lid will help to keep the heat and the aroma inside the cook pot. This means you will need less fuel to heat the food to an acceptable temperature, and it will prevent most of the delicious cooking aromas (odors) from escaping and attracting unnecessary attention to your location.

It should also be noted that some foods emit a powerful aroma while they are being prepared, such as coffee and bacon. Therefore, if you truly love coffee then during a short-term emergency it might be advisable to have a small supply of "instant coffee" instead of "regular coffee." I know there is a difference between the flavor of instant coffee and regular coffee but you need to consider your priorities during a short-term emergency. For example,

1. Would a cup of instant coffee be okay if it did not attract any attention to your location?

2. Or would you prefer for everyone within a half-block radius to be knocking on your door and asking you to please, please share some of your fresh brewed coffee?

Some Options for Heating Canned Foods

It is possible to heat some food items while they are still in the can. This would mean no dirty cook pots to wash. However, after heating the can of food you will still need to transfer the food to a bowl or plate so you can stir the food to more evenly blend its ingredients in order to make it a more enjoyable eating experience.

If you decide to heat your food while it is still inside the can then you should first remove the exterior paper label, if the can has a paper label. Then you should remove the top of the can to allow the pressure to escape. Some people recommend simply punching one or two holes in the top of the can with a can opener in order to prevent the ashes from a campfire from getting into the food. However, trying to remove the lid from a can that has been heated to 120 degrees or higher can be a very challenging task.

Following are some options for heating canned foods:

1. Microwave Oven: If the power is still on a microwave oven will control the cooking aromas, and it uses very little power, and it is very fast. However, you must remove the food from the can and put it into a microwave safe container before heating the food inside the microwave oven.

2. Coleman Camp Stove: Another obvious option would be a Coleman Camp Stove. One model uses Coleman fuel and a different model uses the small propane tanks. The major shortcoming is the initial investment in the grill itself and in the fuel, and the fact that they are designed to be used outdoors because they release poisonous gas fumes while in operation. Another disadvantage is that when you run out of fuel the Coleman grill will cease to function. Finally, if you are forced to evacuate your home then which would you rather have in the trunk of your car: (1) a Coleman Grill and some spare fuel, or (2) an extra case or two of canned foods?

3. Charcoal Grill: A small portable charcoal grill can be used to heat food. You should consider lining the bottom of the grill with a thin layer of sand, or dirt, or small gravel before starting a fire in the charcoal grill. You could use ordinary charcoal briquettes, or you could collect some small sticks from a nearby wooded area and use them to start a very small fire inside your charcoal grill.
If you use sticks, then you should consider collecting sticks that have fallen off the trees and are caught in some bushes or are leaning against something else. These sticks will be extremely dry and they will burn well. If you collect sticks lying flat on the ground then you will probably discover that many of them are damp, or moldy, or rotten and they will not burn well.
The primary shortcoming of both charcoal and sticks is that they must be used outside, and as they burn they will release an odor, or smoke, that will attract a lot of attention to your cooking area.

4. Grill Surface: All you really need is the top metal grill cooking surface off a charcoal grill. You could support this metal grill piece in a variety of different ways and place a heat source below it to heat your food. For example, if you were indoors you could support the metal grill piece on top of four cans of food, and then put a can of "Sterno Cooking Fuel" below the metal grill piece, and you could then heat your food in a skillet on top of the metal grill piece. If you were outdoors you could use four rocks for support and start a fire using some wood sticks from a nearby wooded area.

5. Fireplace: If you have a wood burning fireplace then you could build a very small fire in your fireplace and heat your meals there. Remember that you only need to heat your food so it would be okay to heat the food over a small flame. In other words, you would not need to wait for the wood sticks to burn down into red hot coals to heat your food. This is one of the differences between simply heating a can of food and cooking from scratch. The major disadvantage of heating food in your fireplace will be the column of chimney smoke that everyone can see. During the cool or cold winter months this would not be an unusual sight. But during the warm summer months a column of chimney smoke will be a "very unusual sight" and almost everyone will notice it and immediately realize you are probably cooking something inside your fireplace.

6. Solar Oven: You could purchase a pre-made solar oven, or you could build your own "solar oven." Or you could simply line the inside of a small cardboard box with some aluminum foil and then put a piece of glass or a piece of clear plastic on top of the box. The box should be at least twice as big as your can of food. Place the small solar oven in front of a southern facing window to heat your canned foods. The major shortcoming of this method is that the sun must be shining which may not be the case during a short-term hard times event.

7. Window and a Dark Cloth: Do not remove the lid from the canned food, and do not punch any holes in the lid. Place the can of food under a dark cloth in front of a window in direct sunlight for several hours. You could also use this method by placing the wrapped can of food below the rear window of your car. The dark cloth will achieve two objectives: (1) It will collect and capture more of the sun's energy and do a better job of heating the food, and (2) It will prevent anyone who might pass by from seeing that you are heating a can of food underneath the dark cloth. The major shortcoming of this method is that the sun must be shining which may not be the case during a short-term hard times event.

8. Sterno Cooking Fuel: The twin packs of Sterno Cooking Fuel may be purchased in the camping section of most sporting goods stores, including most Walmarts. Remove the lid from the can, light the fuel, heat your food, put out the flame, put the top back on the can of fuel, and save the rest of the fuel for your next meal. Since you will only be heating your canned foods, a single can of Sterno Cooking Fuel will last a lot longer as compared to using it to cook a meal from scratch.

9. Oil Lamp: Remove the glass top from the oil lamp, light the wick, adjust the wick to achieve a very short flame, and then put the flame below a campfire grill and heat the food on top of the campfire grill.

10. Candle: Place a short round candle inside a candle holder and light it. The short round candles are better because they will last a lot longer inside a candle holder than a long thin candle that will burn down very quickly. You can heat your food above the flame of a candle similar to a "fondue" pot. The glass candle holder in the above picture has a long glass stem on its bottom. The long glass stem allows you to move the candle holder to a different location while the candle is still burning. Some candle holders have a flat bottom and the sides of the glass candle holder get extremely hot and it is very challenging to move the lit candle to a different location.

When you stop and think about the above options carefully, the ones that would be the most dependable in the widest variety of short-term hard times events and which would attract the least amount of attention would be the last four options above. On the other hand, if the power was still on, then the microwave oven would be my first choice.

Note: Several of the above options are only a reasonable choice for heating a can of precooked food. Cooking a food item from scratch will require significantly more heat for a much longer period of time.

Conclusion

There may not be very much to do during a short-term emergency and everyone in your family will be truly looking forward to each meal in order to relieve their boredom and to satisfy their hunger.

Suggestions for Cooking
on a Cast Iron Stove,
and in a Conventional Fireplace,
and using the Texas Fireframe

You will need a pair of heavy-duty leather gloves with loose fitting wrists to cook inside a fireplace or over a cast iron oven. The loose fitting wrists will allow you to quickly shake the gloves off your hands if the gloves accidentally become too hot from the fire or a cast iron skillet.

Do not cook over the flames of a wood fire. Instead wait for the wood to burn down into red hot coals and then cook over the red hot coals. This is the same basic principle as cooking over charcoal.

Cast Iron Stove: Cast iron cookware is easy to use on a cast iron stove. Simply place the cookware on the top burners to cook your food. Or use lid lifters to remove the burner covers and place your skillet directly above the fire inside the stove.

Cast Iron Stove Burner Lids: If you put your skillet on top of the burner lids then the lid itself will capture and retain some of the heat and less heat will be transferred to the bottom of the skillet and it will take longer to cook your meal. However, sometimes you only want to keep food or water "warm" and the best way to do this is to leave the lid on the stove between the fire and the bottom of the skillet or cook pot. On the other hand, if you remove the burner covers with a lid lifter and then place your skillet directly above the opening into the stove, then more of the heat from inside the stove will make contact with the bottom of your cast iron skillet. This will result in less time being required to cook whatever you have in your skillet. However, for this to work the diameter of the bottom of your skillet needs to be at least 1-inch wider than the diameter of the round opening on top of the stove.

Wood Burning Fireplace: In a conventional fireplace you should wait for your firewood to burn down into red hot coals. Then you have several options as follows:

1. Cast Iron Dutch Oven: Place a "Dutch Oven" directly on top of your cast iron grate above the red hot coals, or move the grate and place the Dutch Oven on top of the red hot coals.

2. Charcoal Flat Metal Grill Surface: Place a charcoal metal grill surface across the top of your cast iron grate inside your fireplace. Then you can cook with a cast iron skillet on top of this flat metal grill surface.

3. Folding Campfire Grill: If you purchased a cast iron grate that is about one-half the width of your fireplace, then you could move the cast iron grate to the other side of the fireplace as described earlier in this article. Then put a folding campfire grill over the red hot coals and then you can cook on the surface of the campfire grill.

4. Pot Hook: You can hang a pot with a wire handle from a hook that swings into and out of the fireplace.

Texas Fireframe: If you are using a Texas Fireframe, then after the logs have burned down into red hot coals you have two options as follows:

1. Cast Iron Dutch Oven: Place your food inside a cast iron Dutch Oven with a lid and place the Dutch Oven on top of the lower part of the Texas Fireframe directly above the red hot coals.

2. Cast Iron Skillet: Place your skillet directly on top of the lower cooking grate and cook your meal inside your skillet. Or place a charcoal metal grill surface across the lower part of the Texas Fireframe. After you have positioned your metal grill in its most advantageous position then you can place a skillet on the metal grill surface and cook your meal.